@@YarnAndy I have been getting into crocheting vintage tea cups. Mostly as decor and to store small items. Figured starch would be better since I can redo them when needed too.
@@jujuapples7283 aw, that sounds so nice! Yes, starch is great in this case, you can even travel with the little cups if you want to and then starch them again. Make sure you use concentrated starch, like the paste that you cook.
This was very useful. I'm about to stiffen some snowflakes I just made. Thank you. I'm going to use the glue solution. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.🎄
Haha! 🤣 I love the comment you made while explaining how to use starch to stiffen our projects! The comment was about this method providing us a chance to play with our food! With that humorous comment, you motivated me to invite my little granddaughter to join me to use the starch-solution process for our crochet projects. Thank you SO much!!! I love your knowledge AND your sense of humor! 🤗
Wonderful tutorial! I recently ordered snowflakes which for the first time did not come stiff and so your tutorials excellent. I also purchased snowflakes that had been dipped with water and sugar in the past and had an ant infestation so that was definitely never going to happen but I do like and will use your method with rust proof needles to stiffen my snowflakes. Do you remember recommend any board or surface that's ideal for pinning these to for the sake of drying etc. Also do you sell the snowflakes like you displayed on tutorial?
Thank you! You can use kiddie play mats or fitness mats if you don't want to get blocking mats. I'm in Germany, so even if I were to sell some, it might not be great for you. You could probably find someone local to make some, the full pattern is free in a video tutorial on this channel and on my blog.
I don't live in the USA, but I will assume supermarkets everywhere carry this very basic item. You can find starch for cooking (the powder in a box) in any supermarket, next to flour and other basics. There's also ready-made starch solution in the detergent section.
I'm kind of confused and curious about where you're from because you're using german products but your accent sounds more like from southern europe. However, thanks for the tutorial! I think starch would be the best option for my snowflakes since only water wasn't enough for some of them.
Yes, the prepared paste keeps for a few days in the fridge, but after that it will get moldy. The dry starch (uncooked) keeps for years (but it's not very tasty after the first two-three years, I believe).
Honestly, I have no idea. It should not, but it's always best to test with a little piece and if it looks good, then do the whole item. First make sure it's cotton. If you have some of the yarn used for it, make a little swatch and starch that. Worst case, you have to wash it again, as starching is not permanent, unlike PVA glue. You could also try a low concentration of starch and to iron the bunting if it's flat.
None of these should make your items glossy. Usually you want to use some spray coating for that. You can find water-based acrylic spray coating for craft purposes and try it on a stiffened sample first to see if it works. It will probably not make the item stiff on its own (a bit, maybe), so try one with PVA glue and one without to see which one works for your jewelry.
Not yet, and it's been two years. I used these to decorate the tree this holiday season and they look the same. Some have the rust spots that I show in the video, but that's all. Resin does yellow, so if you want to stiffen some acrylic snowflakes with resin, which I don't show in the video, nor recommend, those will turn yellow.
@@YarnAndy thanks for answering, I just would hate for all the work to be ruined overtime. Do you store them in the heat like a garage with your tree? I live in Florida and am afraid it will yellow with the heat just like everything else I have that is white that is stored out there.
Oh, I live in a temperate climate with cold winters. We keep the decorations in the attic, so very cold in winter, very hot in summer. The attic can reach 50 degrees Celsius easily in the summer months. But you can starch your decorations and then wash them at the end of the season. Store them with the linens and starch them before decorating the tree, if usually you get yellowing of things. If there is smoke in the house, that might contribute to yellowing, as I've noticed in the homes of smokers.
@@YarnAndy no we don’t smoke. It’s just something we noticed but I guess it’s more of white plastics that yellow. but thank you for the suggestions on storing them.
I don't think it should, as the paste is translucent and the starch binds to the fibers, but I haven't tried it on dark fibers. When in doubt, make a swatch and dip it and see what happens.
That's great to know! You can prevent the clumps from forming if you mix the starch with a little cold water and make a smooth paste before adding it to the hot water.
Here's how to make the snowflakes I used for the stiffening experiment: ruclips.net/video/f6C8koEj1Ik/видео.html
Thank you for this beautiful comparison❤
Thank you for your blog post and video. Very helpful and informative. ❤
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much for this. The blog post was very detailed too. I was going to use Glue but realized Starch will be much better for my project.
I'm happy it helped! They both have their uses. What will you be starching?
@@YarnAndy I have been getting into crocheting vintage tea cups. Mostly as decor and to store small items. Figured starch would be better since I can redo them when needed too.
@@jujuapples7283 aw, that sounds so nice! Yes, starch is great in this case, you can even travel with the little cups if you want to and then starch them again. Make sure you use concentrated starch, like the paste that you cook.
@@YarnAndy Yes! Just tried it out yesterday and the paste came out nice!
@@YarnAndy can you keep the starch solution stored away so that you won't have to prepare it from scratch everytime you have to starch your work?
This was very useful. I'm about to stiffen some snowflakes I just made. Thank you. I'm going to use the glue solution. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.🎄
Thank you! I just unpacked these to put up. Enjoy and happy holidays to you as well! 🎄
Haha! 🤣 I love the comment you made while explaining how to use starch to stiffen our projects! The comment was about this method providing us a chance to play with our food! With that humorous comment, you motivated me to invite my little granddaughter to join me to use the starch-solution process for our crochet projects. Thank you SO much!!! I love your knowledge AND your sense of humor! 🤗
Thanks! I'm glad you were able to have a nice bonding moment with your granddaughter and that you enjoyed my little joke 💙
Wonderful tutorial! I recently ordered snowflakes which for the first time did not come stiff and so your tutorials excellent. I also purchased snowflakes that had been dipped with water and sugar in the past and had an ant infestation so that was definitely never going to happen but I do like and will use your method with rust proof needles to stiffen my snowflakes. Do you remember recommend any board or surface that's ideal for pinning these to for the sake of drying etc.
Also do you sell the snowflakes like you displayed on tutorial?
Thank you! You can use kiddie play mats or fitness mats if you don't want to get blocking mats.
I'm in Germany, so even if I were to sell some, it might not be great for you. You could probably find someone local to make some, the full pattern is free in a video tutorial on this channel and on my blog.
I used the glue & had residue that had to be cleaned off.where do You get the starch in the USA?
I don't live in the USA, but I will assume supermarkets everywhere carry this very basic item. You can find starch for cooking (the powder in a box) in any supermarket, next to flour and other basics. There's also ready-made starch solution in the detergent section.
I'm kind of confused and curious about where you're from because you're using german products but your accent sounds more like from southern europe.
However, thanks for the tutorial! I think starch would be the best option for my snowflakes since only water wasn't enough for some of them.
I'm from Romania, but have been living in Germany for about six years now, which is why I show products with German names 😊
@@YarnAndy That makes sense, thank you for answering!
Just corn starch?
Hi Nancy. Any kind of starch works - corn, rice, wheat, potato, tapioca, they are the same. Just add water and heat.
Will it go bad after sometime? Cause it is organic.
Yes, the prepared paste keeps for a few days in the fridge, but after that it will get moldy. The dry starch (uncooked) keeps for years (but it's not very tasty after the first two-three years, I believe).
I have green Christmas tree bunting I want to starch, will cornstarch leave a white residue on them ?
Honestly, I have no idea. It should not, but it's always best to test with a little piece and if it looks good, then do the whole item. First make sure it's cotton.
If you have some of the yarn used for it, make a little swatch and starch that. Worst case, you have to wash it again, as starching is not permanent, unlike PVA glue.
You could also try a low concentration of starch and to iron the bunting if it's flat.
Hi will this give any gloss to my items. I want a way to put some sheen on a piece of jewelry I made.
None of these should make your items glossy. Usually you want to use some spray coating for that.
You can find water-based acrylic spray coating for craft purposes and try it on a stiffened sample first to see if it works. It will probably not make the item stiff on its own (a bit, maybe), so try one with PVA glue and one without to see which one works for your jewelry.
Do any of these methods turn the project yellow overtime?
Not yet, and it's been two years. I used these to decorate the tree this holiday season and they look the same. Some have the rust spots that I show in the video, but that's all. Resin does yellow, so if you want to stiffen some acrylic snowflakes with resin, which I don't show in the video, nor recommend, those will turn yellow.
@@YarnAndy thanks for answering, I just would hate for all the work to be ruined overtime. Do you store them in the heat like a garage with your tree? I live in Florida and am afraid it will yellow with the heat just like everything else I have that is white that is stored out there.
Oh, I live in a temperate climate with cold winters. We keep the decorations in the attic, so very cold in winter, very hot in summer. The attic can reach 50 degrees Celsius easily in the summer months. But you can starch your decorations and then wash them at the end of the season. Store them with the linens and starch them before decorating the tree, if usually you get yellowing of things. If there is smoke in the house, that might contribute to yellowing, as I've noticed in the homes of smokers.
@@YarnAndy no we don’t smoke. It’s just something we noticed but I guess it’s more of white plastics that yellow. but thank you for the suggestions on storing them.
Ah, yes, plastic does turn yellow over time, but that's the plasticiser in it. Cotton is a different kind of material.
My project is a dark navy. Will the starch solution mess with the color at all?
I don't think it should, as the paste is translucent and the starch binds to the fibers, but I haven't tried it on dark fibers. When in doubt, make a swatch and dip it and see what happens.
Hi, how did it work out with the darker colour? I have green Christmas trees to starch for bunting.
Yes it worked for the most part. I think I over cooked the starch so it did dry with a few clumps but they were easy to get off.
That's great to know! You can prevent the clumps from forming if you mix the starch with a little cold water and make a smooth paste before adding it to the hot water.